Midland City, Alabama (CNN) -- Somewhere underneath this red Alabama dirt is a little boy.A kindergartner, snatched from the safety of his school bus by a gunman and stashed in an underground bunker;A boy who needs daily medication;A child that this Bible Belt community of 2,300 is praying for.Many details have been released about the boy's abductor:How he was supposed to have been in court to face charges that he'd shot at his neighbors over a minor property dispute;How he boarded a stopped school bus Tuesday and shot dead the bus driver; ::snipping2::The driverThe gunman stormed into the school bus Tuesday afternoon and demanded that the driver hand him a child.The driver, 66-year-old Charles Poland Jr., was a gentle Bible-reading man who could not stand to discipline the children on his bus because it hurt his heart, the Dothan Eagle newspaper reported.When he refused the demand, police said, the gunman shot him several times as 22 horrified children scrambled for cover.But the man was able to grab the boy and drag him to his underground bunker. ::snipping2::The boyVery little information has been released about the boy.Police and school officials have said the child is 6, but a state representative in close contact with the family says he is 5 and will turn 6 in two weeks.One thing is for certain: the kindergartner didn't know Dykes, State Rep. Steve Clouse said.Through a PVC pipe that extends into the bunker, authorities have pleaded with the suspect to let the boy go -- to no avail.The man agreed to let police send down coloring books, crayons and the prescription medicine the little boy desperately needs for Asperger's syndrome and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.More...Video at Link

« Last Edit: February 04, 2013, 05:36:04 PM by MuffyBee »

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

As the underground standoff moved into its fourth day, tensions grow in this small community near Midland City, Ala., which is now enveloped by SWAT teams and police.

"That's an innocent kid. Let him go back to his parents, he's crying for his parents and his grandparents and he does not know what's going on," Midland City Mayor Virgil Skipper told ABC News. "Let this kid go."

Neighbor Jimmy Davis said that he has seen the bunker where Dykes has been known to hunker down for up to eight days.

"He's got steps made out of cinder blocks going down to it, Davis said. "It's lined with those red bricks all in it."

Police say he may have enough supplies to last him weeks.

Former FBI profiler and ABC News consultant Brad Garrett said there's a distinct reason why authorities are keeping details about Dykes under wraps.

"One of reasons they are keeping negations closed and not releasing his picture, is to try to insulate the situation, so they don't have a situation where they don't have to deal with his anger and rage," he said. ::snipping2::

Videos at link

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

(4 pages) ::snipping2::News conferences to update the status of the situation have been few, brief, and thin on details. Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson held just two briefings Thursday, 15 hours apart, at which he could only reiterate that negotiations, taking place via a PVC pipe connected to the buried bunker, were ongoing, and the little boy is believed to be relatively unharmed.

Friday, he thanked the media in a one minute news conference for being patient and promised to release information as fast as possible. He also warned that unless information came from him at the podium he uses, the information is rumor and he won't speculate on it.

His department then emailed a photo of Dykes, and what little information about him they could. The suspect's photo was emailed out to gathered members of the media.

A short time before the news conference, cameras captured footage of the crimes scene, Poland's school bus, being towed away to an undisclosed location with a police unit following close behind.

Authorities are saying little else out of an abundance of caution in an effort not to damage their operation. But citizens of Midland City, where approximately 2,300 people call home, are growing anxious. The situation hasn't changed in nearly 80 hours. ::snipping2::More details are emerging about the slain bus driver. The Dale County Sheriff's Department confirmed the body that was taken from the crime scene early Wednesday morning belonged to Charles Albert Poland, Jr.

Poland had been with the Dale County Board of Education as a bus driver since 2009 and was described as a cheerful and happy man who loved his job. Mr. Poland, 66, was acting in his official duties, transporting 21 students, when he was fatally shot.

The word "hero" is now being applied to the man who was attempting to protect his passengers. Witnesses say Poland was shot multiple times, 3 possibly 4 times, after he refused to comply with the suspect's demand that a child, or 2 children, get off the bus and come with him.

The Poland family has asked for privacy in their time of grief, but Poland's sister, who lives in Idaho, spoke with Spokane, Washington NBC affiliate KHQ. "We will get through this," Vicki Upchurch said. "My brother was very religious. He had a deep faith. He lived that life too."

Upchurch told KHQ that the family grew up in Idaho, and many still live there. But her brother joined the Army in the 1960s and ultimately moved to Alabama. She said he'd been driving the school bus to help support his wife until she could retire.

Poland's visitation has been planned for Saturday, February 2 from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. at Sorrell's Funeral Home in Slocomb, Alabama. His funeral will be Sunday, February 3 at 2 p.m. at the Ozark Civic Center.

Flowers are being accepted or donations can be made to the Autism Society of Alabama.More...

Video and photo slide show at link

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

Midland City, Alabama (CNN) -- As an armed standoff entered its fifth day Saturday, authorities negotiated through a ventilation pipe with a man accused of barricading himself and a 5-year-old hostage in an underground bunker in southeastern Alabama.

Police have been tight-lipped about a possible motive since the hostage drama began unfolding in Midland City with the shooting of school bus driver and the abduction of the 5-year-old.

In a sign of perhaps how tense negotiations are between authorities and the suspect, officials have refused to detail what, if any, demands have been made by the suspect.

On Friday, the Dale County sheriff did confirm what neighbors have been saying and news outlets around Midland City have been reporting since the standoff began -- the suspected gunman's identity.

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. (AP) — As the police standoff with an Alabama man accused of holding a 5-year-old boy hostage continued Saturday, a nearby community prepared to bury the beloved bus driver who was shot to death trying to protect children on his bus when the episode began days earlier.

Charles Albert Poland Jr., 66, who was known around town as Chuck, was described by folks in his hometown of Newton as a humble hero. Hundreds of people attended a viewing service for Poland on Saturday evening. His funeral was set for Sunday afternoon.

"I believe that if he had to do it all over again tomorrow, he would," said Poland's sister-in-law, Lavern Skipper, earlier Saturday. "He would do it for those children."

Authorities said Jim Lee Dykes boarded a stopped school bus filled with 21 children Tuesday afternoon and demanded two boys between 6 and 8 years old. When Poland tried to block his way, the gunman shot him several times and took one 5-year-old boy — who police say remains in an underground bunker with Dykes.

Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson said in a briefing with reporters Saturday that Dykes has told them he has blankets and an electric heater in the bunker on his property. Authorities have set up a command post at a church and have been communicating with Dykes through a ventilation pipe to the underground bunker.

Olson also said Dykes has allowed police to deliver coloring books, medication and toys for the boy.

Midland City, Alabama (CNN) -- A gunman barricaded in an underground bunker with a 5-year-old hostage is making the boy "as comfortable as possible," authorities said, as the standoff in southeastern Alabama entered its sixth day Sunday.Police have said little about what, if any, demands have been made by the man who they say killed a school bus driver and grabbed the kindergartener Tuesday afternoon before holing up in the bunker in Midland City. ::snipping2::Dykes has allowed "comfort items" to be delivered, such as potato chips and toys, the statement said.He also has agreed to allow authorities to send down prescription medicine the boy needs, Dale County Sheriff Wally Olson told reporters during a short briefing Saturday morning. ::snipping2::As the standoff continued, preparations were underway for Sunday's funeral for the school bus driver, who has been described as a hero for his actions.According to authorities and witnesses: On Tuesday at about 3:40 p.m., the bus driver, Charles Albert Poland Jr., was shuttling children from school to their homes when he dropped children off and the gunman boarded the bus.The gunman demanded that Poland, 66, hand over two children. Poland refused, blocking access to the bus's narrow aisle as at least 21 children escaped out of the back emergency door, according to police.The gunman shot Poland four times, killing him; grabbed the boy and then barricaded the two of them inside a nearby bunker.It's unclear whether the gunman was after a specific child on the bus. Police have said there is no connection between the suspect and the boy. ::snipping2::

Video at Link

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

2/4/13 Reports: Child safe, kidnapper dead after 7 day standoff in Ala. "Reporters on scene reported hearing a loud explosion a short time ago. An ambulance was later seen leaving the scene but without emergency lights or sirens activated.

2/4/13 Reports: Child safe, kidnapper dead after 7 day standoff in Ala. "Reporters on scene reported hearing a loud explosion a short time ago. An ambulance was later seen leaving the scene but without emergency lights or sirens activated.

Thank you for the good news, alagary! Thank heavens that part is over and Ethan is "okay". I hope for the very best future for Ethan and his parents. I can't say I'm sorry one bit Jimmy Lee Dykes is dead.

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. — Authorities say they will be making a major announcement in the case of a 5-year-old who is being held hostage in an underground bunker in Alabama.

The news conference will be held Monday afternoon in Midland City. Police say 65-year-old Jim Dykes has been holding the boy hostage for days after snatching him off a school bus and killing the driver.

Loving Natalee - Beth HollowayPage 219: I have to make difficult choices every day. I have to make a conscious decision every morning when I wake up not to be bitter, not to live in resentment and let anger control me. It's not easy. I ask God to help me._____

“A person of integrity expects to be believed and when he’s not, he let’s time prove him right.” -unknown

2/4/13 Reports: Child safe, kidnapper dead after 7 day standoff in Ala. "Reporters on scene reported hearing a loud explosion a short time ago. An ambulance was later seen leaving the scene but without emergency lights or sirens activated.

Still waiting for the press conference. One odd thing during a very brief ,no questions announcement Dykes was "observed" with a weapon causing them to go in. Neither I or the news people know how he was observed.

MIDLAND CITY, Ala. — Officers stormed an underground bunker in Alabama where a 5-year-old boy had been held hostage for nearly a week, rescuing the child and leaving the boy’s abductor dead, officials said Monday.

Steve Richardson with the FBI’s office in Mobile said at a news conference Monday afternoon that negotiations had deteriorated with 65-year-old Jimmy Lee Dykes. Dykes, who a week earlier had abducted the child from a school bus after fatally shooting the driver, had been seen with a gun. Officers believed the boy was in imminent danger, Richardson said.Officers stormed the bunker just after 3 p.m. CST to rescue the child, who was taken to a hospital in nearby Dothan. Officials have said the child has Asperger’s syndrome.

However, it was not immediately clear how Dykes died.

Daryle Hendry, who lives about a quarter-mile from where Dykes’ bunker was located, said he heard a boom Monday afternoon, followed by what sounded like a gunshot, all around the time officials said they stormed the bunker. ::snipping2::

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

Federal Bureau of Investigation negotiators were watching Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65, "the whole time" as they prepared to enter the bunker where Dykes was holding a 5-year-old boy hostage, CBS News reported in its Monday evening broadcast.

Officials rescued the boy, named Ethan, early Monday evening in a surprise raid that left Dykes dead, ending a nearly weeklong standoff that began after Dykes boarded a bus and killed a bus driver before taking the boy to his underground bunker.

Citing unnamed federal sources, CBS News reported that the FBI rescue team created two diversions to distract Dykes before they entered the bunker from the top.

Officials said at a news conference that negotiations had deteriorated over the past 24 hours and that they had seen Dykes with a gun inside the bunker.

“At this point, FBI agents, fearing the child was in imminent danger, entered the bunker and rescued the child," Stephen E. Richardson, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s office in Mobile, Ala., said at a nationally televised news conference.

Officials did not go into further detail at the news conference, promising more information soon.

CBS News reported that officials had lowered a camera into the Dykes' bunker and "had eyes on him the whole time."More...

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan